The Chinese market is notoriously hard to penetrate for companies outside of China—a quick Google search can reveal that.

So when Fosun, one of China’s most elite international conglomerate and investment companies, reached out to Get in the Ring to innovate their company by working with healthcare startups, we naturally leapt at the chance to get a sneak peak into the inner-workings of China.

SHAPE THE FUTURE OF THE BEAUTY INDUSTRY WITH L’ORÉAL

The challenge was based around biotechnology and personal health, with Fosun looking toward the large number of individuals shifting into retirement in China and the One Child Policy restricting the amount of hands to help them. Numerous innovations in the biotechnology sphere are emerging from generalised practice into developing personalised medicine and machines. We received a huge amount of applications for this challenge, but only 7 were invited to visit Fosun HQ in Shanghai and pitch their ideas to the board.

After rounds of battles and round-table discussions, three winners were chosen.

Exactcure
Inappropriate medications kill 5 times more than road accidents, and cost 10 billion euros per year to the National Healthcare system in France alone. In order to reduce the impact of inappropriate medications, Exactcure’s Digital Twin simulates the effect of drugs in the body of a patient, based on his/her personal characteristics, in connection with his/her health professional(s).
Exactcure are a pioneer startup making huge progress in their industry. They are helping patients around the world avoid under-doses, overdoses and drug interactions.

Founder: Frédéric Dayan & Fabien Astic
Employees: 9
Base: France

We asked Exactcure if they would recommend a Get in the Ring challenge to anybody else. He answered:

Obviously ! For a couple of reasons. First, it’s fun. Second, it’s indeed a challenge to present one’s startup in a series of sequences as short as 30 seconds : it makes you focus on what is essential. Third, it provides the possibility to show who you are, more than in regular (boring) formats. Fourth, the challenge is a unique opportunity to meet potential partners and investors who share the same mindset.

Novus Life Sciences Limited
Novus is a biomedical company dedicated to the R&D and promotion of bone health and related technologies. They develop new biomaterials and implants which can be applied in different kinds of bone surgery. The technologies include bone cement and 3D printed implant – pretty cool huh?! Specifically in osteoarthritis, their technologies enable the restoration of the damaged bone under the cartilage at the joint while providing new diagnosis software for different stages of osteoarthritis based on machine learning and AI.

Founders: Kai Lun Wong & Wilson Wong
Employees: 10
Base: Hong kong

Novus Life Sciences successfully pitched their way to the top and won a pilot project with Fosun. From one click of a button on our challenge page, this startup now has the opportunity to work with one of the biggest investors in China. We asked why they wanted to join the challenge:

Fosun is a leader of the healthcare sector in China. Connecting with means we can transition from research to production phase. Get in the Ring connects us to different markets worldwide – our team treasure this opportunity as there should be no boundaries for medical products.

This truly could be a life changing moment for them!

AEvice Health
AEvice Health develop wearable devices to help patients better manage chronic respiratory diseases.
Their wearable device listens to any abnormality in a child’s lung continuously, picking up the early symptoms of asthma such as wheezing, coughing and fluctuations in respiratory rate.

This means that AEvice can alert parents before an asthma attack occurs, giving them peace of mind.
As there is currently no wearable device that is capable of providing continuous surveillance on a patient’s respiratory symptoms, AEvice will become the new standard of care for asthma management.

Founder: Edmund Shao & Adrian Ang
Employees: 12
Base: Singapore

We asked AEvice what their favourite part of the challenge was:

Through our interaction with Fosun, we have a clearer picture on where are some of the potential areas that we can collaborate with Pharma companies in the near future. We loved the in-depth discussions we had Fosun and an EY consultant. This provided us with useful feedback and critics on our business proposal.

From here, the startups will pursue the collaboration with Fosun to not only innovate the company but develop their own businesses. It will be intriguing to look out for how these companies and their technology appear in the wider Chinese public—so stay tuned, we’ll let you know!